IX 



SWOEDFISH 



From records of the New York Bureau of Fisheries, 

 by G. B. Goode 



THE swordfish, Xiphias gladius, ranges along the 

 Atlantic coast of America from Jamaica (lati- 

 tude 18° N.), Cuba, and the Bermudas, to Cape 

 Breton (latitude 47° N.). It has not been seen at 

 Greenland, Iceland, or Spitzbergen, but occurs, ac- 

 cording to CoUett, at the North Cape (latitude 71°). 

 It is abundant along the coasts of western Europe, 

 entering the Baltic and the Mediterranean. I can 

 find no record of the species on the west coast of 

 Africa south of Cape Verde, though Lutken, who 

 may have access to facts unknown to me, states 

 that they occur clear down to the Cape of Good 

 Hope, South Atlantic in mid-ocean, to the west 

 coast of South America and to southern California 

 (latitude 34°), New Zealand, and in the Indian 

 Ocean off Mauritius. 



The names of the swordfish all have reference to 

 that prominent feature, the prolonged snout. The 

 "swordfish" of our own tongue, the "zwardfis" of 

 the Hollander, the Italian "sofia" and "pesce- 

 spada," the Spanish "espada" and "espadarte," 



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